State building case for murder against Norwich man

Glimpses of the state’s case against accused murderer Chihan Eric Chyung started to emerge on Tuesday with the start of a probable cause hearing in New London Superior Court.

GREG SMITH

Glimpses of the state’s case against accused murderer Chihan Eric Chyung started to emerge on Tuesday with the start of a probable cause hearing in New London Superior Court.

Chyung, 48, of Norwich, has never denied shooting his wife on the night of June 2, 2009, but claims he accidentally fired his Glock 9 mm pistol while packing it into a suitcase. Paige Bennett Chyung, 46, died of a gunshot wound to the head less than a month after the two were married.

While there was little evidence presented Tuesday to show the shooting was anything more then an accident, the charge of murder alone is an indication the state believes it was intentional. More details could be revealed today with the expected testimony of Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Wayne Carver.

With a lower standard of proof than a trial requires, Smith needs only to convince Judge Stuart M. Schimelman at the hearing that there is evidence to move the case forward.

‘I killed my wife’

Police became aware of the shooting after Chyung called 911 at about 11:40 p.m. and told emergency dispatcher Jacqueline Martel, “I killed my wife, I killed her. I didn’t mean to.”

Several Norwich police officers were called by state prosecutor David Smith on Tuesday to testify about the events that followed the 911 call.

Officer Thomas Lazzaro was among the first to arrive at the 257 Norwich Ave. home to find Chyung standing at his pickup truck, where he surrendered to police without a struggle. After forcing their way into the home, Lazzaro and Officer Damian Martin testified they found Bennett Chyung lying on the floor with a pool of blood around her head.

Several members of Bennett Chyung’s family were in tears in the New London courtroom as photographs of the scene were presented as evidence.

Martin said Chyung, who was “articulate and well-spoken,” spoke freely about the events that led to the shooting. Martin said Chyung claimed the argument stems from his purchase of a fishing pole. The fight had escalated to the point where he decided to leave.

Gun went off

Chyung claims he was packing his Glock 9 mm pistol into a suitcase in the kitchen when the gun fired. Bennett Chyung died of a bullet wound to the head.

“He stated his finger was not “consciously on the trigger when it fired,” according to the police warrant affidavit in the case.

Smith called on Chyung’s neighbor, Amber Levesque, to testify about hearing the argument prior to the shooting.

Levesque said she heard a man yelling and a woman screaming at the home next door. After hearing a bang, Levesque said the arguing stopped.

Chyung cried when discussing the shooting with police, at one point saying “he wished the police could just hang him,” Martin said.

Martin added, however, that Chyung cried without tears, in a manner that “almost appeared staged.” The comment was stricken from the record by Schimelman.

Under questioning from defense attorney Brian J. Woolf, Martin confirmed that the gun used in the shooting did not have a safety and that an inadvertent pull of the trigger could cause the gun to fire.

Bennett Chyung was a nurse’s aide at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich and had three children and two grandchildren.